1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a goniometer arm that is adaptable to a stationary precision saw apparatus. The goniometer arm positions a sample specimen in any plane in relation to the stationary saw apparatus, allowing the saw to cut the sample specimen in any planar direction.
2. Summary of the Related Art
Linke, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,795 describes a precision saw including an automated pressure control. The pressure control operates in conjunction with a specimen holding arm to precisely cut a specimen for analysis.
The holding arm described in the '795 patent is rotatable only about a first axis that is centered on a shaft integral to the precision cutting device. The '795 patent therefore fails to disclose an arm that is able to rotate a sample about two or three separate axes.
Other apparatuses for presenting a sample to a precision saw blade are known in the art. Some of the apparatuses use an arm rotatable about a single axis and some use an arm that is rotatable about two axes including an axis centered on a shaft integral to a cutting apparatus. The art, however, is devoid or any description of a goniometer arm that is able to rotate about two axes other than the axis integral to the cutting apparatus so as to present a sample, at any angle, to a saw blade for cutting.